Short Update
Our beloved BFSkinner is hanging in there, but sigh.
Today is Monday. On about Thursday, the doctors finally corrected the dosage of his cardiac medications, which cleared up his dry overnight cough. He was transferred to a rehab facility on Friday, and he got permission to leave the facility on Saturday evening for a traditional Rosh Hashanah meal with long-time friends of his family. His caregiver drove him there, and he enjoyed the outing. BFSkinner had signed himself in to the rehab facility, which meant he could leave when he wanted to, according to him.
On Sunday, he was talking about going home on Monday. The Good Ship Hope could be seen entering the harbor.
On Monday, the Good Ship Hope crashed on the docks. BFSkinner woke with intense pain, he thought from kidney stones. I cannot remember exactly how many kidney stones he has had in the past; I think he’s had about 40 kidney stones. Apparently a small percentage of Crohn disease patients get a lot of kidney stones.
On Monday morning, the pain caused his blood pressure to spike to 173/100. He was taken to the emergency room at the big Royal Oak hospital, where of course he waited in the ER again. They would not let him eat until he peed, and he was very hungry. Scans apparently showed 2 kidney stones, one measuring 1.2 cm and the other 1.3 cm. I am not sure if both are on one side or if he has one on each side. The urologist will see him Tuesday morning to decide about surgery.
Oy
Oy.
How to give to BFSkinner, and if …
I know some of you will want to help him financially and will be able to. However, If you yourself are struggling financially and can’t donate, please don’t worry about it, don’t crimp yourself — others will take up the slack this time.
- PayPal.com (100% to BFSkinner) and click “Send Money to Family and Friends.” Enter BFSkinner’s email address: houstonbfskinner AT netscape DOT net, and the amount you are sending. The sender's name is visible to the recipient, but he will not know your user name unless you tell him.
- GoFundMe (92% to BF).
- To send a check or an identity-protecting money order by mail, please send me a kosmail or email to get his address.
How to help BFSkinner in other ways:
Recommend this diary, offer kind and encouraging comments including prayers and wishes. Write him a note, drop a joke, a video, a picture of your four-legged or two-legged or two-winged friend. Follow the group That’s Entertainment to find future Daily Kos story about BFSkinner.
Note: When I copy the diary and comments and paste all that into an email to BFSkinner, he is not able to see any pictures or videos. He can read your text comments in the hospital, and they boost his spirits. Later, when he has reliable access to the Internet, he enjoys reviewing the comments and seeing the pictures and watching the videos.
Chat among yourselves, as I will not be able to participate until morning, if then, I am running a small business, campaigning for Garlin Gilchrist for Detroit City Clerk, and taking care of my wife, who has many disabilities — probably in reverse order of importance. BFSkinner may possibly be able to read some comments, but it looks like he will not be able to recommend or comment at this time.
From comments in my last story for BF:
- How much is his rent? The total due on the 20th of every month is $800. The roommate is supposed to pay $400 plus $100 for utilities, but she pays nothing. Sigh. (He did get the September rent paid, but it was 5 days late. OMG, he appreciates the help of all youse guys very much!!! Also, he says his house lease runs through December 20, and he is not going to renew the sublease of his roommate from you-know-where, and he hopes she will leave then. Looks like he will be on the assisted-living-facility waiting list for about 15 more months. It’s located across the street from his synagogue.)
- Who feeds his 2 cats? BFSkinner pays his caregiver to drop in every other day to take care of kitty issues: food, water, litter, cleanups, play time.
- Does BFSkinner have a dog? Not any more. He had to return his rambunctious puppy to the rescue shelter about a month ago. The dog kept attacking the older cat, Cash, who was not able to defend or tolerate that type of play, so the younger cat, Cloud, would jump on the back of the puppy to protect the older cat. Pandemonium, too much for BFSkinner.
See you after sunrise,
2thanks
Update at 7:30 a.m. ET Tuesday:
I will email BFSkinner a copy of this diary and its comments at about noon, and I will send him another copy at about midnight today.
Reminder: Videos, pictures, and captions will not be visible to BFSkinner today. As I used to tell my 3-year-old, “Use your words.”
Update at 1:15 p.m. ET Tuesday:
Communications: I emailed the diary and comments to BFSkinner, and I will email them to him again at about 10 p.m. ET tonight. Like the remarks inscribed on a community quilt, it’s unbelievable how much your healing remarks in the comments help support and sustain him.
Health Progress: I just found out he peed out the stones. (OMG, he peed out the two half-inch stones!) He is waiting for an ambulance to take him back to the Livonia rehab center. Yay!